


Stay with me, darling

by Someday44



Series: Guardian spirit [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Bittersweet, Claustrophobia, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Injury, M/M, Non-Binary Mollymauk, Spoiler warning after ep 26, this fic is sweet but it stabs you in the heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 20:21:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16730100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Someday44/pseuds/Someday44
Summary: Caleb wakes up with a head injury after falling from a great height. Luckily he's not alone in the darkness.[SPOILER WARNING for after episode 26 (campaign 2), be warned!]





	Stay with me, darling

His head was ringing. Like the buzzing of hundreds of voices, lined with a high pitched screaming. But he couldn't tell whether the screaming were the voices of playing children or a distant memory he'd rather forget. He squinted his eyes, trying to make sense of his dark surroundings. He remembered falling from a great height. And then... nothingness. He tried to glance up, but piercing lights danced high above him and he had to shield his eyes for a moment to escape their brightness. What was that? Were they his own Dancing Lights? Then why were they so bright?  
  
  
  
"Stay with me, darling."  
  
  
  
A familiar smooth voice spoke softly above him and the ringing subdued a little.  
  
  
  
Slender fingers gently combed through his ginger hair in slow, soothing motions. Caleb would've purred, if his head wasn't hurting so much. And if he were a cat. He blinked a few times and frowned, trying to get his thoughts back on track. His keen mind wasn't making any sense.  
  
  
  
Blinking up, his vision cleared a little and he saw the lights above were indeed his own dancing lights. They flickered a little in the darkness. The wizard wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep them up. He felt exhausted. With every flicker he felt the person beneath him shiver a little anxiously. Only now he realized his head was cradled in someone's lap.  
  
  
  
"S-stay with me, darling. Don't fall asleep on me now." The slight quiver in their normally confident voice made the wizard glance up at the other.  
  
  
  
_Mollymauk._  
  
  
  
Caleb felt himself smile in relief at the recognition.  
  
  
  
"I'm not going anywhere, _Liebling_."  
  
  
  
Molly chuckled despite himself. "Good, because I need you here with me."  
  
  
  
Two strong hands moved to his chest and buried into the fabric of his mangy coat as the tiefling bend over him. Despite the splitting headache, the wizard could tell the fortune teller was distressed. Small, confined, dark spaces always made Molly uncomfortable. And this time they were locked in one. _Beneath the ground._  
  
  
  
Reaching up, Caleb felt around for Mollymauk's hands on his chest and pried at them until they let go of the fabric so he could hold both of them.  
  
  
  
"The others will get here to save us soon." The wizard said, bringing the hands up to his cracked lips so he could place a reassuring kiss on both of them. "They will get us out in no time. Promise." Then he closed his heavy eyes for a moment.  
  
  
  
"I know, darling." Soft lips touched his forehead. "I'll stay by your side until then."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
When he opened his eyes again, it was to the sound of moving rubble closeby.  
  
  
  
"--uys, I see him!!"  
  
  
  
"Caleb!! We're coming!"  
  
  
  
A blinding light filled the space for a moment and the wizard quickly squeezed his eyes shut and covered his eyes with his arm.  
  
  
  
"Caleb, oh my gosh!" Jester's worried voice rang into his ears, "Quick, Beau help me move this rock!"  
  
  
  
There was some fuzz around him, but it all past him like a blur. A warm feeling seeped into the side of his head, which he could only assume to be someone's healing spell. It did clear some of the woozy fog in his mind and with some difficulty he opened his eyes once more. He stared right up at Nott's worried face, her green little hands touching all over him to check if he was alright.  
  
  
  
"Caleb! Are you okay? We came as quick as we could! That must've been very scary!"  
  
  
  
The wizard smiled and let her have her anxious way in checking if he wasn't hurt anywhere else.  
  
  
  
"I wasn't scared. I had Mollymauk with me."  
  
  
  
The little goblin stopped her fidget-y checking and appeared back into his vision. Her expression had changed to a different kind of worried. She almost looked... sad? Above him, she exchanged a look with Jester, before looking back down at him.  
  
  
  
"Caleb..." She said softly, searching for words. "Molly... Mollymauk... they... they _died_. A few months ago. Don't you remember?"  
  
  
  
The wizard stared up at her, as his memories all came rushing back at once, like a speeding train, hitting him like a sledgehammer. His eyes widened and he quickly sat up, his body protesting at the sudden movement.  
  
  
  
"But, but, they were _right here_. I saw them. They were with me!" He glanced around frantically, searching, despite his refreshed keen mind reminding him of what he knew to be the truth. Sudden panic seized his heart, tears stinging at the back of his eyes. He had heard their voice. The feeling of their hands in his still lingered. He couldn't have imagined all that, could he?  
  
  
  
Nott glanced up at Jester, who eyed him equally worriedly. "I'm sorry, Caleb. She's right." She said sadly, steadying him when he swayed a little. The wizard choked back a sob and buried his face in his hands. The feeling of Mollymauk's lips on his forehead was still fresh on his mind, as the grief he had suffered through ever since it happened, washed over him all over again.  
  
  
  
"Perhaps you are both right." A slow, gentle voice above them said.  
  
  
  
A large hand reached down and Caleb looked up at Caduceus in confusion as the tall firbolg pulled something from the ginger's hair. Kneeling down in front of the wizard, the cleric offered him the small object. The human immediately recognized it and took it in both hands, marveling at it. In his hands was a small, green peacock feather.  
  
  
  
"Sometimes spirits choose to linger, to keep watch over the ones they love." Caduceus smiled a lazy smile and gazed across the small space. "Looks like you got yourself a guardian spirit, mister Caleb."  
  
  
  
The wizard closed his hands around the feather and held it close for a second. _Oh Liebling, how I miss you._ Then he reached for his head when another wave of headache washed over him.  
  
  
  
"Let's get ya outta here, a'right?" He heard Fjord say and a moment later he could feel himself be lifted up. Glancing back over the half-orcs shoulder, the ginger scanned the rocky open space one last time. But there was no trace of the fortune teller ever being present, except for the small feather in his hands. He hugged it to his chest.  
  
  
  
_Stay with me, darling._  


**Author's Note:**

> I'M SORRY.


End file.
